Chapter 5

discuss the relationships among explanatory style, the perception of control, stress, and illness.

1.) Explanatory Style - whether you attribute outcomes to positive or negative causes- also affects your ability to cope with stress. a.) Pessimism- Anger, Suppressed Emotions, hostility, anxiety, depression and pessim are all associated with negative outlook in life. Which will lead to harmful health related behaviors and disease. also linked to earlier mortality, weak immune system. b.) Optimism- People with an upbeat and positive explanatory life style. They have shorter hospital stays, are likely to recover faster. In college they report less aches and insomnia. Positive emotions stave off BP, inflammation, immunospression, and other disease promoting processes. Also helps sustain immune functioning under stress.

describe several relaxation techniques, and discuss evidence regarding their effectiveness as stress-management tools.

1.) Progressive Muscle Relaxation - hold a particular area tense for 10 sec. then release focusing on the soothing feeling. After doing this a person will be able to recognize where they get tense and will be able to avoid it. 2.) Deep - breathing and visualization - Inhaling a long slow breath counting to five, as you exhale focus on how your body is relaxing. imagine filling your stomach with air and blowing out like a balloon is deflating. Combining this with visualization will help. visualization was helpful in boost mood of people in an unhealthy relationship.

define coping, and differentiate problem-focused and emotion-focused coping skills.

1.) problem focused coping: dealing directly with the stressfull situation either by reducing its demands or by increasing our capacity to deal with the stressor. 2.) emotion focused coping - techniques, we attempt to deal with our emotional reaction to stress. we may use behavioral strategies, seeking out other who offer encouragement or keeping ourselves busy to attract attention from the problem. Or we may try cognitive strategies such as changing the way we appraise the stressor or denying unpleasant information.

discuss the relationships among explanatory style, the perception of control, stress, and illness. (CONTINUED)

2.) Perception of Control- - The belief that you make your own decisions and determine what we do or what other do to us. -When put under repeatable, uncontrollable stress people learn that they cannot affect what happens to them. -In extreme cases they develop learned helplessness. -Low perceived control may be the reason why many minorities have health problems. - People with a strong sense of personal control tend to engage in problem focused coping. Those who feel a strong sense of psychological control are more likely to exercise direct control are most likely to exercise direct control are more likely to exercise direct control over health-related behaviors. a.) regulatory control- which refers to our capacity to modulate thoughts, emotions, and behaviors is a part of everyday life. Self control is linked to success of dieting, quitting smoking, and maintaining good interpersonal relationships. - choice and culture: more choices = positive health outcomes and negative choices= poor health outcomes.

define the hardy personality, and discuss the relationships among this trait, coping style, and health.

Hardy Personality- people who embrace new challenges, remain healthy in the face of adversity and posses these three buffers : commitment, challenges, and control. They view stressors as challenges not threats, they have control over their lives and give it meaning. They are less likely to become aroused by stressful situations, as a result of that they are able to avoid physical and physiological reactions to stress.

discuss the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise.

Physiological effects : Enhances blood flow to the brain, stimulates the autonomic nervous system, and triggers the release a variety of hormones. Exercise may trigger a neurophysiological "high" that produces an anti-depressent effect in some people, an antianxiety effect in other and the very least an enhanced sense of well-being in most. Psychological Effect : - offers a change of piece, helps people feel better about their appearance. they have lower anxiety and depression. aerobic exercise helps increase seratonin levels. Stress management can also occur after exercise.

differentiate the types of social support, and discuss two hypotheses regarding the beneficial effects of social support.

Social support - companionship from others that conveys emotional concern, material assistance, or honest feedback of a situation. 1. Buffering Hypothesis- social support mitigates stress indirectly, by helping us cope more effectively. people with more social support are more likely to deal with stress better. Rumination leads to being counterproductive. 2. Direct-effect hypothesis- social support enhances the body's physical responses to challenging situations. During stressors the presence of supporters may dampen sympathetic nervous system arousal, perhaps by reducing the release of corticotropin-releasing hormone from hypothalamus.

discuss who is most likely to benefit from social support, and identify the circumstances under which social support is not beneficial.

people with better social skills- who relate well to others and are caring and giving. People who are hostile and unagreeable receive less social support, therefore they will leave a unhappy life. instances when social support is not beneficial: 1.) when people do not perceive the support to be beneficial (this may happen if the person feels the advice to be inadequate or useless). 2.) the type of support offered may not be needed, for example a single mother going to school does not need encouragement to study hard, they need child care assistance. 3.) too much social support can increase a person's stress levels, like an obtrusive family, too many friends.

Discuss the relationship between socioeconomic status and coping style.

people with higher socioeconomic status will use problem focus coping and people with lower socioeconomic status will use emotion focus coping.

describe the assumptions and goals of the cognitive therapies and their application in stress management.

share commonalities with relaxation therapy and biofeedback. based on the view that our way of thinking about the environment, rather than the enviornment itself, determines our stress level. If thinking can be changed, stress can be reduced. Distractions, calming self statements and cognitive restructuring. 1. distractions- use of pleasant imagery, counting aloud, relaxing stimuli to direct attention away from unpleasant stressors. 2. calming self statements- taking silently or softly make calming and reassuring self talks statements emphasize the temporary nature of the stressor but aim to minimize it. 3. cognitive restructuring- is a generic term that describes a variety of psychological interventions directed at at replacing maladaptive , self-defeating behaviors and replacing them with healthier adaptive thinking.

describe the relationship between physiological responses such as vagal tone and regulatory control, and give evidence linking regulatory control with coping style.

the relationship vagal tone and regulatory control is if you can learn to control emotions thorough regulatory control can effect vagal tone. college students had a negative levels of emotional response to stress. Students with high levels of vagal tones are less likely to respond negatively to stress and use constructive coping mechanisms.

compare and contrast the coping styles of women and men, and discuss whether these differences are true gender differences.

Women Coping Strategies- lower bp, stronger glucorticoid response, most likely to rely on emotion focused coping,. Men Coping Strategies- greater secretions catecholamines. (autonomic nervous system- activating neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine.), most likely to use problem focused coping. when researchers compare women and men of similar occupation,education and income, gender differences in physiological responses to stress and comping strategies often disappear .

discuss the use and effectiveness of biofeedback as a stress-management technique.

biofeedback - a technique for converting certain supposedly involuntary physiological responses such as skin temp, muscle activity, heart rate, and blood pressure into electrical signals and providing visual or auditory feedback about them. Using an electronic monitoring device that detects ans amplifies internal responses. By attempting to control this biofeedback signal, the patient learns to control his or her physiological state. Finally the individual learns to transfer control his or her physiological state. thermal biofeedback - based on the principle that skin temperature tends to vary in relationship to a person's perceived level of stress. By placing a temperature sensitive instrument on the skins surface , people are sometimes able to raise their skin temperature by monitoring an auditory or visual feedback signal. Effectiveness - Biofeedback has proved to be somewhat beneficial in treating stress related health problems in some people. It is a good alleviation of tension headaches and migraine headaches. but there are some drawbacks 1. people cannot create the clinical environment they are in. 2. research has not successfully confirmed that biofeedback itself enables people to control their internal involuntary responses